AC Milan is having their best season in four years, and they pulled off a signature victory on Saturday over five-time reigning Serie A winners Juventus. In the second half, 18-year-old Manuel Locatelli scored the best goal of his young career, beating Gianluigi Buffon with an absolute stunner from the edge of the penalty area.
18-years old and @Manu10Locatelli does this against @Juventusfcen #beINSerieA https://t.co/6OJXsj6eFm
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) October 22, 2016
Juventus might feel like they were unlucky based on the run of play. They had much more of the goal, plus 14 more shots than Milan on the night, many of them coming from inside the penalty area. But their finishing was poor, and when they did hit the target, they were denied by Milan's 17-year-old superstar goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. He preserved Milan's victory with an incredible save in the 96th minute that only a player with his incredible physical talent and quick reflexes could have made. Against most goalkeepers, this shot by Stefano Sturaro hits the back of the net at the top corner.
Credit: user teatoddler on r/soccer
This win takes Milan up to second place in Serie A on 19 points, just two behind Juventus. For the first time since the 2012-13 season, when the Rossoneri finished third, there's reason to believe that they can pull off big results against Serie A's top teams and make it back to the Champions League.
Milan is not "fixed" quite yet. They're not back to being as good when they won the Scudetto with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva leading the team. And there have been questions about their new owners, who have been accused of forging letters of support from banks, and who the legendary Paolo Maldini chose not to work for because he didn't agree with their plan for how to take Milan forward. But, for the first time in a long time, Milan fans have hope.
Locatelli and Donnarumma are just teenagers, but they're two of the team's top players. Vincenzo Montella has figured out how to make the best use of his players despite the club's ownership situation preventing him from strengthening the club in the transfer window as much as he would have expected. And, despite all the bumps in the road during the transfer of ownership from Silvio Berlusconi to Chinese-based investors Sino-Europe Sports, that deal is expected to be completed in time for new owners to provide an injection of cash ahead of the January transfer deadline.
There's a ton left for Milan to do before they're a big club again, and there are so many ways it can go wrong. But with the team beating Juventus on the back of huge performances from a pair of teenage stars, Milanistas can be optimistic again, assuming they haven't forgotten how.